Louie
by FluffyGlitterPantsDragon
Summary: Chloe takes home a cat rescued from a bad situation. Lucifer takes over and spends some time communing with a cat. This is sad y'all. I wrote this as a memorial to the best cat who ever existed in my life. Indirect mentions of animal abuse.


Something caught the light on Lucifer's penthouse bookshelf. Chloe carefully picked up a curious pair of soft black feathers, bound together by a stiff white smooth cord of some kind. It didn't look woven.

The feathers were huge, almost eight inches long, but she didn't know of any black eagles. They looked like matched flight feathers. The edges were thick and sharp, ticking her finger when she dragged the narrowing tip. "Hey, Lucifer, what are these?"

The Devil just as carefully took them from her, thumbing the dark fluff near the black shaft. He didn't say anything for a moment, his eyes as dark as the feathers. "They were a gift from a friend."

"Oh?" In the light, the black vanes almost had a chocolate to blue reflection.

"In a way, they were also a gift from you."

A frustrated Chloe's voice resounded in her kitchen "Lucifer! Get off the counter!"

Lucifer paused in the doorway of her apartment. "I beg your pardon, Detective?"

She looked up from where she held a squirt gun. "Oh, hey…Lucifer, come on in." She was in rolled up sleeves, her golden hair in a comfortable pony tail. Frustrated blue eyes followed something on the floor.

As usual, he showed up unannounced. Today, he was in a coal black three-piece fitted suit and pale moss button down, every hair in place.

The day was gorgeous, sunny and warm. Better than any day in hell, hands down. Another presence in the house plucked at his soul, something small and different. He cocked his head and stepped around the corner.

A huge black and white cat smoothly hopped up from the floor to a kitchen stool. She sat and watched him, her bottlebrush tail flipped under the seat. She had a recent bath.

Chloe waved at her. "Lucifer, meet Lucifer."

He stepped closer, but gave her space. He tucked his hands in his pockets. She regarded him. "What's with the furball?"

"So you missed the fun this morning at the precinct- the type of case I like even less than murderers. The local Sheriff cleaned out a hoarder out in a bad part of town." She set down her squirt gun, her face softening. "A pet hoarder."

Walking around the corner, Chloe reached out to lightly pet the cat on the head. She tolerated it.

"I'm really happy it wasn't a police matter. The County Sheriff's Department had their hands full this morning, and the Health Department had to come out to remove almost sixty live animals."

Lucifer felt his eyes harden. "Who?"

"They've been arrested." She swallowed, anger reaching her features and flowing out of her body. "But several birds, dogs, cats and two lizards were found dead inside the location. Of the rescued, 38 cats and ten dogs were removed, along with some smaller animals. There's no space for them all right now, so some of us at the precinct are taking cats and dogs until they can be rehomed. Dan took am adult Pitt mix, even though he shouldn't have a dog in his apartment."

She continued, not looking at him. "There are vets that are…evaluating several of the rescued animals, to see if they can be rehabbed."

He didn't ask what happened to the ones judged to be too far gone.

The cat stared at him, unmoving save for the twitching tail. She licked her lips with a bubblegum pink tongue. Emerald green eyes surrounding pale gold and deep black irises blinked at him. Bright sunlight streaming into the apartment narrowed her pupils to bare slits.

His voice dropped. "Detective, would it help to know that among the many 'special places in hell', there's one for animal abusers?"

Her bright blue eyes met him. "Of all the things you've told me, I hope that's true."

"All of it is true, Detective."

She nodded. "Then tell Maze to give that criminal special torture from me, when he arrives down there."

He smiled grimly with a halting nod. Lucifer the cat shifted her whiskers forward. They were a swarm of glinting white points around her face that caught the sunlight in a halo. Lucifer the Devil could see her front paws wore white short glove markings, with a broad swath of matching bright white fur from muzzle and chin to stomach. She was a tuxedo colored cat, bearing an additional white stripe up between her eyes stopping at her forehead, slightly off center. In direct sunlight, her undercoat shone reddish brown. Out of the natural light, her coat reverted to solid black and white without undertones.

The Lucifers watched each other. "You got saddled with 'Lucifer', then?"

Chloe shrugged. "The name posted on his cage caught me and it felt like I had to. It sounds silly, but I feel like he chose me." Fluffy Lucifer blinked up at her from the seat.

He took another step toward the counter and cat. "Her."

"Sorry?"

He pointed. "Lucifer here is female."

Lucifer narrowed her eyes, tucking her feet under her body, assuming the cat 'loaf' position.

Chloe squinted at her friend. "You can tell that from over there?"

"Of course."

Chloe leaned on her counter, watching the cat. "She has so much fur I guess I didn't look that hard."

"Don't worry, she's not insulted by the mistake." He frowned down at the feline. "Cats are used as messengers of the over and under-world."

She smiled. "Is that why you look like someone stepped on your tail?"

He raised his eyebrows and dipped into his velvet voice. "Detective, you are _well_ aware I have no tail."

She rolled her eyes. Lucifer the cat blinked.

"But yes. Cats are double agents, you see. Any cat could be bearing a message from an angel or a demon. Or even myself, but I haven't used a cat to do so since I came up here. Cell phones are much more efficient." He shrugged. "No reception in Hell."

Furry Lucifer untucked herself and hopped one stool closer to the Devil with a graceful arcing hop.

"She seems to like you. She barely lets me pet her."

"She doesn't want to be petted, Detective." Lucifer regarded the pointed green eyes. "She hasn't had a soft hand touch her in some time. And her name isn't Lucifer either."

Chloe looked from cat to Devil. "Do you want to take her? You seem to have a rapport. I didn't think about the fact that Trixie may want to keep her when she sees her. I do feel bad about keeping Trixie from meeting her, but we can't have a pet here permanently."

Lucifer held out his ring hand to the cat, palm up. Her nose widened, flaring, sniffing his fingertips. She licked her lips again and turned in a circle. Lucifer thought he saw something flattening her fur on her back. When she sat, it was gone again. She blinked slowly and told him something.

"She belongs somewhere else, anyway. This one is special." Lucifer thought about it. "Do you have a box?"

"Yeah, she came in here, in one. Chloe started to walk away to grab it." She paused, looking back. Humoring him, "Do you know what her real name is?"

Lucifer's hand hovered. The cat nosed into it, masking on his thumb with her chin. Her face edged over the black stone set in the metal ring. She relaxed.

"Her name is Louie."

Lucifer unboxed the strangely named cat back in his flat. He shrugged off his coat. "I hope you understand I don't have long-term guests."

Louie looked around. Tense. His place was bigger than likely any other she'd ever set paw in. Her eyes focused on the view off the balcony and she froze. She stepped toward it lightly, sat and looked up at the sky with wide eyes.

"You're safe now. We can talk."

She looked back over her shoulder with a roll of her head, twitched her nose.

"Of course I'm really the Devil. You should know." He retrieved a bowl from the kitchen, filling it with water. "This will be in the bathroom, please don't splash it."

He would have sworn the cat rolled her eyes. She'd already spent too much time around Chloe.

"I'll send someone out for food later. Perhaps out to the butcher for lamb?"

She padded silently back to him, cocked her head and flexed her prestigious whiskers.

Tucking his legs under himself, Lucifer crossed them on the soft rug. "Why are you here?"

Louie shook herself from nose to tail. She lightly walked across the rug and curled up in his lap.

"What do you think you're doing?"

She blinked up.

"Not ready to talk, are you?"

She raised up in his lap, roughly scraping her face against his cheek, then settling back down and began purring quietly. Her voice was very small. He almost couldn't hear it. _No, but I like you._

He smiled slightly. He knew she had a voice as all cats do, but he didn't know if she would speak to him until now. It was broken. The very core of her soul was cold as ice, covered by a thick blanketing shield of warm fur. She didn't look tragic, on the outside, but he sensed she had been kept away a long time.

Cats protect themselves. They resonate strength, putting all their spare energy into it, even when they are low on reserves. Even if she wasn't talking much, she let her guard down enough to grace him with her weight.

"You've run messages in the past, haven't you, Louie?"

She squirmed sideways in his lap, leaving long soft black hair on his thighs. Well, that's what dry cleaners were for. She glanced up with one eye and licked her paw.

Lucifer hesitantly ghosted his hand over her fur. Something flickered again. His eyes caught something almost no one else could have. No one mortal. "You're here on extended time, aren't you, Louie?"

The purring stopped.

"You don't have to tell me yet. But I can probably help. I don't know who you made a deal with, since it wasn't me."

She huffed. Then fell asleep in his lap, as if she didn't have a care in the world. _Cats_.

Dogs may have been refined by humans on earth, but cats remained almost as Dad had built and formed them originally. Many humans have come around to understand they all have an untamable wildness that they choose to suppress for the sake of their patrons. A few other animals held positions in the celestial chain. Ravens were his personal favorite, but they got distracted easily and didn't have their own names most of the time. They also didn't work both sides, unlike cats.

Well, he couldn't move now. Lucifer leaned to grab a remote, since his phone was out of reach. The latest _Star Wars_ movie was on SyFy.

Sometime between things blowing up on screen, Louie moved to the couch. Lucifer hauled himself up, showered then changed into his least nicest pajama pants since Louie would probably pick at them at some point.

He reseated himself in front of the couch, bringing himself eye-level to the cat.

"My brother is bringing over a few things. Maybe he can convince you."

Rising to all fours, looking for all the world like a lion, Louie sat behind his head and started grooming him.

He sighed. "I guess I'll need another shower at some point." Space fighters battled each other on the screen.

A rough tongue dragged through his damp hair, doing nothing to correct the state of his curls, but trying to be nice all the same. Her teeth worried out a tangle he missed. She delicately placed a paw on his shoulder to angle her face behind his ear and 'clean' further.

Arriving with a box under one arm and a bag in the other, his brother walked out of the elevator.

Using Lucifer's shoulder as a springboard, Louie launched herself over the back of the couch to the newcomer and entwined in his legs. Amenadiel stopped and watched his furry visitor. "Is this the source of your text, Lucifer?"

Annoyed, "Indeed. She certainly seems to prefer angels over Satan."

"C'mon kitty. Let me.. arrrgg." He caught his balance again, juggling the bag and box. His brother sorted himself out, stripping the cover off the box. Lucifer pointed toward the bathroom. Amenadiel made a face, but put the box in the designated area. Louie followed him then came back out, bouncing on wide snowshoe paws.

Lucifer unfolded himself and got them drinks. "Brother, meet Lucifer."

The angel glanced down. "That's not her name."

"Darn. She really does like you more. Oh well."

"Not that much more. She isn't talking to me. I just know that's not right."

Lucifer eyed the cat. "You aren't going to let me have any fun at all, are you?"

She mentally smirked and flexed her nose.

He handed over a drink. "Louie-fur here was temporarily rescued by Chloe. She was going to keep her for a week or two, but I decided to humbly accept responsibility, like the good man I am."

Louie bounced up into a bar stool. She seemed to like those. She mashed her face into Lucifer's hand again, but retreated when he reflexively tried to stroke her back.

"She also seems to like petting me more than being petted."

Amenadiel accepted the drink. "So, what's the deal? Cats are pretty common, even ones who communicate."

"Take a closer look at her. Also, she doesn't believe I'm the Devil."

"Maybe you should show her your wings, if it matters that much to you."

Lucifer shrugged. Louie stared.

What the hell. Something else was going on here, might as well figure it out.

Shirtless from his shower, Lucifer walked back to the couch, doing a quick check for wing-span space. He unfurled slowly, so as to not startle her. He slowly extended them out full width, letting them rest open. It was nice to let them breathe once in a while.

Her eyes grew wide.

Louie leapt from the stool, causing it to spin. With precision, she landed on the back of the couch.

She sat up straight, watching him and them. She flicked a look back at Amenadiel. Just as slowly, she extended jet black wings of her own. The size of an eagles', they were miniature in comparison to Lucifer's. Under his flats' lights, they flashed blue on the inside of the wings, stretching out to reddish brown at the tips, like her fur in sunlight. Unlike his own wings, they were not functional.

They also were the sign he expected.

His wings wilted and he flashed them away. Amenadiel nodded. "I see."

He was right. She was here on, literally, borrowed time. Either from before she was rescued, before she was taken to that awful house, or perhaps even when she found Chloe. It explained her attentiveness, even to him.

She didn't want to die broken. Something in her shattered soul yearned for…something.

His voice came out soft. "Louie?" She marked him again, winding between his ankles.

 _I need to find Tiny._

Lucifer sank down to crossed legs again. She allowed him to pet her back this time. Amenadiel came over and sat on the couch. "What'd she say?"

The Devil stroked her face with his thumbs. She purred under his fingers with a strong thrum. "I think she's looking for a previous patron. Humans call themselves 'owners'. Not the place she was taken from."

"Where was she taken from?"

"You don't want to know. But it'll be hard if all Louie knows is the name 'Tiny'. That could be a child or a strange adult nickname. I don't plan on driving every side road looking for 'lost cat' posters. Chloe didn't know how long she'd been held by the hoarder."

Anger that reflected Lucifers' earlier reaction crossed his face. Clenching his jaw, Amenadiel nodded again. Louie allowed him to pet her lightly too. He cocked his head. "Was she checked for a chip?"

"A what?"

His brother rolled the skin on Louie's neck around until he found a small hard lump. "Something humans do from time to time. Looks like she's got one. We can take her to a vet's tomorrow and read it, find her address, hopefully."

"Hopefully?"

"Well, either they didn't check when she was rescued, or the information on it wasn't enough to locate the previous owner. It may not even have anything useful on it. They don't get updated every time their human moves unless they have it done. If we're lucky, we can figure out who 'Tiny' is. He looked out the balcony. "In any case, it's too late now tonight, unless you want to hit an emergency vet office."

Louie gazed between them, shifting her weight. She twitched one ear back.

Lucifer shrugged, trying not to sound soft. "I'd rather not get dressed again."

Louie slept on Lucifer, curled up into a soft fur ball on his back, purring. He woke up sometime in the night, feeling the weight between his shoulder blades. It startled him and he turned, dumping her off. She grumbled. They sat up and looked at each other.

Lucifer chuckled to himself. "You're not the type of company I usually wake up to."

Louie flexed her whiskers at him.

"What?"

She passed around behind him and pawed at his back.

"Yes, I supposed they are nice to look at."

For the first time since he made Louie's acquaintance, she vocalized with a demanding "Mrreeorow."

"Well, I do usually give in to the demands of my evening companions."

Lucifer swept his wings out, ruffling the sheets and his wide feathers. He was careful not to accidentally shove her off the bed. Louie flicked her tail thoughtfully and stepped up both front paws between his wings. Her snowshoe feet kept her claws retracted, not that it'd hurt him, and began grooming him again with an insistent bristle tongue.

He jumped. She Mrrrd' again, making him extend them out completely. Bemused, he hunched over while a cat cleaned the small feathers where they emerged from his back. She hopped all the way up to his shoulders, reversing her angle to make them lick down flat, with the grain.

Fluffy cat tail in his face was a small price to pay for attention to places he couldn't reach without tools. She braced one forepaw against the wing bone, working her face into short feathers and correcting their alignment.

Lucifer felt himself relaxing like it was a good massage. He hummed to himself and let her work. He'd always heard cats called judgmental but – It was then a chastisement came through from Louie on the condition of the feathers she was fixing. Well, they weren't well kept. He could deal with the big outer ones himself, but where the wings sprouted, they often were neglected, making his back itchy.

She climbed over his head in a manner that must be common for cats, changing wings. "Really?"

"Mlem."

She worked in silence from then, plucking out a few damaged bits of broken shafts. In a short period of time, her barbed tongue had worked out a good pile of shredded down and bits of feathers. Her paws shifted and Louie got her teeth all the way down to the base of a wing, finding dry flesh under feathers and exfoliating him.

 _Kitten._

Lucifer jumped. Her voice was stronger now. "How's that?"

 _Who failed to teach you?_

"I'll have you know I haven't been in the company of anyone who knows how to care these wings in a very long time."

She became quiet again, concentrating. Her claws came out, kneading along the larger supporting feathers she could reach and letting them air out a bit.

"I may have to rethink my stance on cats as house companions."

She didn't reply, but she started to purr again, vibrating on his back.

Lucifer drove down the street with more reluctance than he imagined he'd have over this. Louie tucked up in the box Chloe handed him yesterday, with no complaint. It was buckled into the other seat securely. Over and over again, the cat repeated the name _Tiny. Tiny. Tiny. Tiny._

The only information available on the chip was a name. But with some quick internet searching and a little police assistance from Chloe, they narrowed down the correct Christina Whittles. Chloe wanted to go with him, but he declined. He knew what was waiting.

Lucifer swallowed an ache, wrapping a hand on the grip of the carrier box. The young woman who opened the door registered confusion. Then she saw the box. Hope broke across her face like a wave.

"Louie?" She was young, maybe thirteen with long brown hair that fell in messy waves.

Lucifer nodded, handing her the box. Which he could feel vibrating through the handle. "You need to know something."

Louie burst open the cardboard box and curled up in her arms, purring louder than any cat he'd heard in his life. She lifted her up, hugging her tight. "Louie! Oh, my heart. I haven't seen you in years, what happened?"

The Devil ached. "The authorities and LAPD found her in a…house, with dozens of cats. The man who had her and the others was arrested yesterday morning. They didn't know how long Louie had been there. He stole a lot of pets."

Christina sat on her legs, cradling the cat. "It's been five years. I thought she died."

Lucifer sank to his heels to rub the fluffy head. "How did she come by the name Louie?"

She didn't speak for a moment, clutching her face to black and white fur, tears running down her face. "When I was little, my baby brother died, and this scraggily little kitten showed up under the porch a few weeks later. I named her for him. My parents didn't like it and told me to change it. They told me I couldn't keep her if I named her Louie. So in front of them, her name was Sassy."

Louie grumbled.

"She doesn't like that name, does she?"

"How did you know?"

Lucifer, for the first time in his miserable life, told a half-truth instead of a full one. "I'm an angel, and I can talk to her. She told me your name is Tiny."

Christina's throat closed. She couldn't speak for several minutes.

She choked. "That was what my little brother called me."

Louie blinked huge green and gold eyes up at Lucifer.

"There's something else. Louie only came to say goodbye. She can't stay long. I'm sorry."

None of them spoke.

The young woman sobbed. "Why?"

He transferred his touch to Christina's face. "I don't know. Something must have happened to her when she was in that place. She found me so I could find you."

She nodded. "How long before you take her to heaven?"

Louie purred frantically.

Lucifer didn't speak.

"Thank you for letting me see her again. It means everything to me."

He looked up and down the street, seeing no one. "I have something else for you."

She squinted through long black fur.

Lucifer unfurled his wings just a little, enough to let her see the edges. He reached back and plucked a feather from himself, a short, fluffy one. "Take this."

Christina palmed it carefully, holding Louie close with her other arm.

The wings went away again. "If you're ever hurt, you can use that to help yourself." He stroked Louie's chin. "Or someone else."

"Thank you."

Louie extracted herself, sitting up on the concrete porch. Christina touched her forehead to her cat. "I'll miss you. I'm glad you're going to a good place. You deserve it." Lucifer pet her gently one last time. She was warm, through and through, to her very core. Solid and once again unbroken, as all cats should be.

This was at least one thing Lucifer could attest to. "Yes, she is." While there was a special place in hell for a variety of monsters, there also existed a special place in heaven for anything beloved.


End file.
